Chapter 1218 Intimidation

Chapter 1218 Intimidation

Chapter 1218 Intimidation

Shi Yong arrived outside Ting County that night.

It was called a county, but in fact it was just a military camp built of wood. After tricking the enemy into opening it, they broke in, killed the county magistrate, and occupied the city.

The chaos continued until the morning of the 24th, when Shi Yong divided his 3,000 soldiers into three teams and sent them to several overseas Chinese communities to suppress possible rebellions.

These immigrants from the north have been controlled by Su Jun for many years and are the most unstable.

That evening, he gathered a thousand men and rushed to the neighboring Ye County, but was defeated and killed by a group of armed refugees from Qingzhou...

After sending someone to report to Tangyi, Shi Yong retreated to Ting County in a panic.

Some people in the county heard the news and rose up in resistance, and a great battle broke out between the two sides. Fortunately, the Qingzhou refugees in Ting County were attacked and their command structure was paralyzed, and they were eventually suppressed by Shi Yong, who killed many people.

Chen Yan was extremely angry when he heard this.

Why are all his subordinates mediocre? Why is there no one with a clear mind, good ability, and good workmanship? They are all useless people who got in through connections.

After sighing for a while, he accepted the fact: If it weren't for Shi Yong, his connection, he wouldn't be able to be so efficient, right?

On the 25th, he also detained the messenger from Jiangnan.

The messenger was confused and had no idea what had happened in Tangyi. He was tied up and tortured, which allowed Chen Yan, Yin Yi, and Pu Gu, a loyal minister who had recently arrived with more than 2,100 cavalrymen from the three battalions of Hengchong, Huangjia, and Tieqi, to get a lot of information.

First of all, the situation in Jianye has stabilized, at least on the surface, but it is hard to say about people's hearts.

The big families in Danyang and Xuancheng wanted to gather tens of thousands of soldiers, and more than 10,000 people who had gathered in advance, led by Liu Chao, headed straight for Yangxian.

The two sides fought at Yongshi, and Zhou's vanguard was defeated. Liu Chao recaptured Yongshi and Pingling counties and advanced eastward again.

On the 23rd, the two sides fought again to the west of Zhangputing. Zhou Xie, wearing heavy armor, charged bravely and suffered several wounds but did not retreat. After Liu's army retreated slightly, Zhou Zha sent troops to attack fiercely. Liu Chao's vanguard was defeated and the Danyang local tyrant Shi Jian was killed in the battle.

Liu Chao then retreated more than ten miles and set up camp, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

This news made Chen and Yin quite worried. They couldn't help but secretly curse Zhou Zha for not doing his job. Why did he offend the Moling Tao family? Now they clearly want you dead.

The troops of the Danyang and Xuancheng nobles gathered together and crushed the Zhou family, whose strength was not as strong as before.

The second piece of news was that Liu Kun had allocated 5,000 soldiers and horses to join the siege of Jincheng.

This made Pugu Zhongchen very nervous.

The emperor asked him to command several thousand elite cavalry, but he ended up sending nearly four hundred people across the river. Although he seemed very heroic, he actually felt a little regretful in his heart.

It’s not that he regrets that these people will die, but he is worried that the emperor will be disappointed.

Yin Yi was also somewhat dissatisfied. Before leaving, the King of Lu gave instructions in person, asking them to try their best to pick up those who had already crossed the river. If that was not possible, they should also find a way to get them to withdraw, so as not to damage their morale and prevent the soldiers from crossing the river alone in the future.

The third is that the Jiangdong nobles are still recruiting soldiers and ships, and the first batch has already set out from Kuaiji and Wujun.

This news made everyone look stern.

No matter how many people come, they are undoubtedly fresh forces. Once they are put into the battlefield, they are likely to change the situation.

"Set out immediately, cross the river and take Jianye before the enemy reinforcements arrive." Yin Yi slammed the table and said angrily.

"Lord Yin, the Jianye navy is still on the river. How can we go south?" Chen Yan looked bitter.

"Let me ask you, how many ships does Zhou Yan have?" Yin Yi said.

"There are always more than a hundred ships. He divided the men into two halves, one half patrolling the river and the other half resting."

"Can more than fifty ships block the river?"

"If you don't want to be killed on the river, it's best not to do it."

"What if it means someone dies?"

Chen Yan was a little surprised, then fell silent.

Soldiers’ lives are worthless. If they run into the Jianye navy while crossing the river and die, then it would be their bad luck.

Those who didn't collide would continue to move forward and land in Jiangnan. As for whether they would be blocked during the landing process, it depended on their luck.

In a place like Wumadu, the river is wide and the waves are turbulent. The first attack was a surprise attack. Now, crossing the river from there again is impossible with Chen Yan's shallow military knowledge.

"But we don't have any soldiers now." Chen Yan said helplessly: "It's better to wait until the king's army arrives before crossing the river."

"No!" Yin Yi said without allowing for discussion: "It is still a question whether the Xuzhou army can reach Guangling if it goes south. It will also take a long time for the Huainan army to come. By the time they arrive, the troops of the Wu clans will have been ready for battle. The ships will cover the river, how can the flags, armors and stars pass through? There are only a hundred ships now, but in the future there will be more than a thousand!"

"But there are no soldiers." Chen Yan sighed.

Yin Yi was stunned.

If we have to blame someone, we should blame the fact that this war was completely unprepared, which was true for both Liang and Jin sides.

When the emperor found that the cavalry was crisscrossing the north of the Yangtze River, the Jin army did not dare to fight in the field, and some people crossed the river from Guabu to the south, he decided to capture cities in the north of the Yangtze River. At this time, rebellions broke out frequently in the south of the Yangtze River, and the Jin court was in a panic. A good opportunity to destroy Jin seemed to have appeared, but unfortunately the emperor did not know it yet.

If he had received the news of Qian Feng and Zhou Zha's rebellion, he might have mobilized the palace soldiers and the main force of the imperial guards by now, but mobilization takes time, plus the marching, even if a few fast-moving vanguards arrived first, it would take at least half a month. It would probably take one or two months for the main force to arrive, which is still considered fast.

Does this opportunity to destroy Jin really exist?

Yin Yi's face was uncertain. In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation of great achievements. He looked at Chen Yan and said, "There are thousands of troops in Quanjiao. At worst, we can stop attacking Huaiyangqiu and transfer all of them to Tangyi. Don't shirk your responsibility and send Shi Yong's county troops across the river."

While Yin Yi was speaking, someone was translating in Pu Gu Zhongchen's ear.

He was a little worried after hearing this, but he wanted to rescue Qiu Xiaozhong and others in Jiangnan, and he wanted to make a contribution, so he didn't say anything.

Chen Yan was forced by Yin Yi, and finally he could only say: "I can transfer some of the county soldiers to cross the river, but there are not enough boats, and at most a thousand people can be taken across at a time."

"Where is the boat?" Yin Yi asked.

Chen Yan smiled bitterly, "Don't joke, Lord Yin. Many years ago, the court of Jianye did not allow refugees to cross the river. Among all the places in Jiangbei, only Dongguan and Liyang have naval forces, and Guangling occasionally has naval ships from Jingkou stationed. Even these naval forces are only under the command of Shan Xia and Liu Kun. Ask Su Jun if he wants to cross the river, will the naval forces in Jingkou and Guangling listen to him? I'm afraid they are facing a great enemy. The boats I collected are just the ferry boats of the civilians in Jiangbei, and there are only so many in a hurry. If Lord Yin is willing to wait, perhaps more boats can be dispatched. I wonder-"

"You go ahead and collect the boats." Yin Yi immediately waved his hand and said, "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. Today - or tomorrow at the latest, we will dispatch some boats to carry the soldiers to Wumadu."

"It's not easy to cross the river at that place. If we are not prepared, it would be fine. But now we are prepared. Wouldn't it be suicide if we go there?" Chen Yan urged: "Why not change the place?"

Yin Yi looked around, then pulled Chen Yan aside and said softly, "Pick out a group of old and weak people, and have them cross the river from Wuma this afternoon to make a bigger noise. After nightfall, select strong and capable people to cross the river from Jiangcheng. General Pugu may also dispatch some of his elite troops to cross the river to the south. Just do as you are told. If they still encounter the enemy navy at night, it's their bad luck, not your fault."

Chen Yan felt bitter in his mouth. This was the death of those people who wanted to go to Wumadu.

"This won't work, and that won't work. I think you've made up your mind. Once you anger His Royal Highness Prince Lu, I'll see how you'll end up!" Yin Yi threatened.

Chen Yan was indeed shocked.

Under Yin Yi's cold gaze, he finally nodded helplessly and said, "I will try to find more boats."

******
On the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, it was already late at night and there was not a trace of light.

The northwest wind blew up the fine snow, which hurt people's cheeks.

Shi Yong tightened his "hard armor and quilted clothes" and rubbed his almost frozen hands vigorously.

The wind and waves were a little strong, and occasionally there was a sound of waves.

The ferry was floating up and down in the river, swaying as if it would capsize at any time.

"General, be careful!" the helmsman reminded in a hoarse voice.

Shi Yong nodded and looked up at the sky. There was almost nothing there except snow flakes falling in the wind.

He looked towards the other side again, and in the distance there seemed to be a soybean-like halo, flickering in the waves.

He could not tell whether it was the light of a fire on the ship or a lamp on the shore.

There was suppressed sobbing in the cabin, which was quickly stopped by someone.

Shi Yong didn't even need to look to know that it was the county soldiers who were crying on the ship heading south. There seemed to be two teenagers boarding the ship, so they must be them.

There were faint shouts coming from the distance.

The wind was too strong to hear clearly, and the sky was too dark to see clearly.

"Don't make a sound." The boatmen said to the county soldiers sitting in the middle of the cabin while rowing.

The county soldiers turned pale and clenched their weapons tightly.

On the river, they were really helpless.

If they encountered a tall enemy ship like that, with densely packed crossbows extended from the windows, they could easily shoot and kill all the people on their ship - no, that would not be shooting, but massacre.

Fortunately, the darkness hid their figures, and everything still had a chance to turn around. If anyone was really encountered by the enemy, it would be really unlucky.

Shi Yong thought more deeply than them.

In fact, this is why the regime that is based in the south of the Yangtze River must defend the north of the Yangtze River.

Without the fortresses and garrisons on the north bank of the river, the enemy could easily cross the river from the north bank, making it impossible to defend against them.

It would be fine if the army guarding the Jiangnan ferry was able to fight, but they could also annihilate the small group of troops that sneaked ashore, or make the other side afraid to sneak ashore, thinking it was meaningless.

It would be dangerous if the troops guarding the south bank became demoralized and lacked combat effectiveness.

The history at that time was still short, and Shi Yong could not find corresponding examples in history, but that did not prevent him from having this understanding.

As I was daydreaming, the shouting on the river gradually faded away.

The night was as dark as ink. Time passed very slowly, yet also seemed to pass very quickly. Shi Yong had no idea how much time had passed, nor where he was.

All he knew was that the huge waves kept hitting the side of the boat, soaking his cotton-padded clothes.

"Fold the sail! Fold the sail quickly!" A low shout came from the bow.

The boatmen staggered back and forth, adjusting the masts and lowering the sails.

The sound of the waves grew louder.

Shi Yong was a little confused. Could it be that they had reached the center of the river?
"General, we are almost at the shore." The helmsman said flatteringly, "That is the sound of the river hitting the cliff."

Shi Yong felt relieved.

Suddenly, he found that not only his cotton clothes were soaked by the river water, but even his back was soaked with sweat.

Soon, a gray stone staircase appeared in front of us...

That night, five hundred soldiers from Tangyi County, two hundred from the Iron Cavalry Battalion, and one hundred cavalrymen from the Hengchong Battalion landed with some food and fodder and arrived at Puzhoujin.

During the crossing of the river, another 300 infantry and cavalry were either intercepted by the Jin army's navy or accidentally capsized in the panic and were eaten by fish.

That afternoon, four hundred county soldiers set out from Guabu to Wumadu, and most of them were captured and killed by the Jin army on the river beach.

As the battle progressed, there were less than 200 cavalrymen in Jincheng, and even Qiu Xiaozhong himself was injured and unable to fight.

Every night, some of Qian Feng's troops would secretly leave the city to surrender to the enemy, delivering intelligence from within the city. Now he only had five hundred people under his control.

Shi Zhen still had three hundred men left.

There were less than a thousand men left, many of them wounded. They had been defending until now, and their energy was almost exhausted.

That night, all the wounded soldiers led by Qiu Xiaozhong and the people of Langya State returned north on the ship.

This may be the last window for evacuation in the short term. If you don’t leave, you will die.

The commander-in-chief of the Iron Cavalry Battalion, Lou Guochang (of the Pilou clan), led three battalions in the city, namely the Yellow Armor Battalion, the Iron Cavalry Battalion, and the Hengchong Battalion, totaling 440 cavalrymen.

Shi Yong, Qian Feng and Shi Zhen led 1,200 infantrymen.

On the 27th, upon learning that reinforcements had arrived from Jincheng, the entire Jin army began to curse.

The generals headed by Zhao Yin jointly wrote a letter requesting that the navy on the river below Jingkou be transferred to strengthen the blockade.

On the 28th, almost at the same time as Zhao Yin's memorial, the news that Liu Chao defeated the Zhou family in Yixing, killed Zhou Zha's son Zhou Dan in battle, and besieged Yangxian City also reached Jianye.

There is joy and sorrow at the same time, and the situation seems to be at a stalemate.

(End of this chapter)